Israel’s military response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack is sparking widespread international outrage, expressed this week in a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors” in Gaza for “sufficient number of days to enable full coverage, rapid, safe and unhindered access for UN agencies and their partners. The decision is binding; However, there is no guarantee that this will happen. Today, as at other times in the past – for example, when Israel was called upon to stop the colonization of the Palestinian territories – the international community is not effectively enforcing its will on the Israeli state. Why?
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said on Friday in Ramallah (West Bank) that what is currently happening in Gaza is “the consequence of a political and moral failure of the international community,” which they have theoretically discussed for decades supports a two-state solution without “doing what it should do” to “make it a reality.” Borrell emphasized that “the Israeli and Palestinian people are paying a heavy price for this failure.”
This general statement has specific implications once applied to the Israeli side, the dominant force in the conflict and occupying force. From this perspective, the United States bears a relevant share of responsibility for the collective failure mentioned by Borrell. Supporting and protecting Washington – the only actor with real influence over Israel, given the basic military support it provides and veto power in the Security Council – is an essential key to understanding Israel’s room for maneuver. European countries also bear responsibility, but less so because they have less influence on Israel.
The position of a hegemonic power like the US and the institutional structure of the UN – which prevents it from being effective on security issues when there is no consensus among its members – explain why, despite there being large majorities in the General Assembly or even in the UN -Security Council states The Council has condemned Israel’s actions, this political decision will have no real consequences for the group. Washington has at times passed resolutions that were unpalatable to its ally, but it has never applied or allowed significant pressure to fully achieve specific goals, be they humanitarian pauses, a halt to colonization or the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In the current crisis, Israel suffered a barbaric attack by Hamas, which gave it the right to self-defense. The way this happens causes immense human suffering through the tactics of collective punishment, which many experts consider a war crime. Despite international pressure, Israel continues its massive bombardment and siege of the Gaza Strip, which only allows a tiny amount of basic supplies such as food, water or fuel to pass through. The incident is just the latest in Israel’s long line of excesses and abuses in its legitimate attempt to ensure its security.
Here are some clues and data to delve deeper into the influence various international actors have on Israel’s actions and why they have not used it to its fullest extent.
The protection of the USA
The history of the State of Israel cannot be understood without the active support of the United States, which has supported and protected the Jewish state for decades.
Be it for genuine political and moral convictions (to defend a safe home for the people who have suffered the worst persecution in human history), for domestic political reasons (given the Jewish community’s significant influence on American politics), or Strategic interests in the region (given that several Arab countries have chosen an alliance with the former USSR and the confrontation with Iran since the founding of the Islamic Republic), Washington’s support for Israel is unwavering. A support that comes in the form of powerful military aid and political reporting in the United Nations
That doesn’t mean their relationship didn’t have its ups and downs. While the US has on countless occasions blocked UN initiatives directed against Israel by exercising its veto power, in a number of significant circumstances it has – out of desperation – abandoned everything. A famous example would be Resolution 2334 of 2016, which the Barack Obama administration passed and which dealt a huge blow to Israeli colonization. This week’s resolution passed by the US, which does not even condemn the Hamas attack, is another strong critical signal. In many other situations, the US has bilaterally or even publicly expressed its displeasure with certain Israeli actions, and there is no doubt that non-obvious US pressure has produced significant results in the region in recent history.
But Washington never gave or gave a decisive push to end the occupation, end colonization, establish a Palestinian state or stop military campaigns that might have been even more brutal without its actions, but which certainly have been It has caused horrific suffering to civilians and, according to many experts, numerous war crimes.
The United States is Israel’s major military ally and therefore has the greatest influence over the country. If the US were to limit this aid, it would likely be very effective given its fundamental influence over Israel.
Over the decades, Washington’s support has been of enormous quantity and quality and has made Israel the powerful military power in the region that it is. In the decade of the current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in 2016, Washington plans to provide Israel with $38 billion in military aid. This is about twice the total annual defense budget of a country like Spain, which is much larger economically and population-wise than Israel. There are estimates that the total amount of U.S. taxpayer military aid to Israel, adjusted for inflation, exceeds $300 billion.
Not only is the quantity enormous, the quality is also crucial. The United States pursues an active policy designed to ensure that Israel always has a qualitative advantage over its opponents. For example, Israel was the first country to receive American F-35 fighter jet plans, the most advanced in the world, and the United States helped finance and produce the Iron Dome, Israel’s missile defense system.
People gather in New York on November 9, 2023 to protest against Israel’s ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip.JUSTIN LANE (EFE)
It is virtually impossible to imagine that the United States would support a sanctions initiative at the United Nations over illegal colonization. But what would have happened if the delivery of F-35s and critical parts to Iron Dome had been conditioned on a halt to colonization or acceptance of a humanitarian pause in the current Gaza conflict?
Europe’s tolerance
While the US’s responsibility for the collective failure Borrell speaks of deserves primary attention, Europe also has a significant share. There are two levels, that of the EU bloc and the national positions of individual states, which obviously influence the former but also have their own course.
The EU is not a geopolitical or military power and in this sense it lacks important levers of influence. However, the EU is Israel’s most important trading partner. Last year, 28% of Israel’s trade in goods was with EU countries. That’s not the same as being an essential Arsenal supplier, but it’s not insignificant either. South Africa’s apartheid failed not because of hard power, but because of enormous diplomatic, commercial, cultural and media pressure.
However, the EU is finding it difficult to articulate common positions on this issue. A UN General Assembly resolution at the end of October that also called for a humanitarian ceasefire – which was passed with 120 votes in favour, 45 abstentions and 14 against, including Israel and the US – is a good example of this disagreement: One EU -Countries were in favor. Some were against, others abstained.
Germany’s Nazi past in particular paralyzes the leading European power on this issue. Collaboration with Nazi Germany continues to weigh on Italy. And France, the EU’s second-largest power, is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community.
The enormous reluctance of major countries and internal disagreements explain, at least in part, why the EU has never taken major action to exert influence over Israel. Even measures to simply label products from occupied and colonized territories encountered difficulties.
Russia, a Eurasian power, has cultivated ever closer ties with Israel during Vladimir Putin’s two decades in power. Although Russia has never had the same influence as Western powers, this policy of rapprochement with Israel has definitely prevented concrete steps. This is changing as the relationship between Moscow and Tehran becomes ever closer. Time will tell what consequences this will have.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin, in Moscow in 2020.MAXIM SHEMETOV (Portal)
The impotence of the UN
This underlying political reality has significant implications for the United Nations’ ability to translate policy statements into reality with overwhelming support on the ground.
The UN has instruments to give its decisions an executive dimension and to influence current developments, for example by carrying out peace missions (currently there are twelve with 90,000 soldiers) or by imposing sanctions, albeit with limited effectiveness, represent a powerful pressure instrument.
In addition, at the 2005 World Summit, the United Nations adopted the concept of the “Responsibility to Protect”, according to which (Article 138) every state has the responsibility to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity; and (Art. 139) the international community also has a responsibility to protect people from such crimes by peaceful means. “In this context, we are ready to take timely and decisive joint action. […] “Peaceful means are insufficient and national authorities are blatantly failing to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity,” the article said.
This principle was invoked several times in previous international crises (e.g. in Libya). In the Gaza conflict, some experts believe that it is not applicable because it refers to the duty of states to protect their people, and Gazans do not fall into this category vis-à-vis Israel. However, others believe that since the United Nations considers the Gaza Strip to be occupied by Israel, the country is responsible for the population living there.
In any case, any executive action requires, in one way or another, a political will that has never been expressed, especially given the ironclad protection that the United States has given its Security Council ally.
Conclusions
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is immensely complex and leads to absurd political judgments. There are great responsibilities on both sides. As an occupying power, Israel bears special responsibility. As a democracy, it should have moral standards that cannot be expected from an organization like Hamas, which is considered terrorist by the EU. Several of its actions have been deemed illegal by the international community, and many experts believe they are increasing war crimes. There are no rulings on these cases as Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute and is therefore not subject to the International Criminal Court. However, after Palestine became a member a few years ago, investigations have begun and there could be rulings in the International Criminal Court in the coming years.
Meanwhile, the reality is that Israel’s actions, whether deemed justified or not, were only possible because of the active support of a hegemonic power – the United States – and an incapacitation of the United Nations that largely resulted from that support.
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